This is especially true if you're a "King of the Hill" fan, not only because Shudder is where you can watch the TV adaptation of N0S4A2 but also because of the new(ish) Creepshow TV series, which has adapted a couple of stories by the King father/son duo, and more, I'm certain, are to come. The first episode adapted one of my favorite early King short stories, "Gray Matter", while the season finale adapted Hill's "By the Silver Waters of Lake Champlain". I haven't seen much about Season 2 yet, other than that it was greenlit, but if I had to call it, I'd say we'll be getting at least one King or Hill story per season.
Where was this show when I was skipping short after short due to them not being long enough to make a film?!
But in the meantime, we have the CreepShow Animated Special, which is a must-watch for any King or Hill fan. Two stories, one a King adaptation, the other a Hill, done as "motion-comics" instead of live-action adaptations or fully animated productions, and for some reason, the format here just works.
The first is an older King story, "Survivor Type", which I've talked about several years back, and which was initially in development as a regular live-action installment, but no one could really figure out how to make it work in live form. Jon Bernthal, an actor I really appreciate, was scheduled to play Dr. Richard Pine, the title character, but in the animated version, Kiefer Sutherland provides the voiceover, and if I hadn't checked the credits, I'd never know it, because he puts on this voice like a middle-aged, New England Italian-American. Really, voice-over was the only way to do a story like this one, since the original story was done as if it was the found journal Pine kept while stranded on an island after a shipwreck. I recall enough of the short story that I think it was literally used as the script, altered only a little, if at all.
Sutherland really sells it as Pine, a surgeon who deals coke on the side and ends up on a deserted island while running from the authorities. He's determined to live until he's rescued, eating gull and drinking from gallons of water he has with him. He's also got some kilos of cocaine, and very early on he injures himself, leaving him without the use of one foot and a need to eat. I don't want to get into too much detail here, and honestly, I've talked about it before, but the story's title comes from Pine asking himself over and over how badly he wants to live. It's a really gross story, and seeing it played out, even in motion-comic format, is nausea fuel of the best kind.
The idea of making this a motion-comic, rather than a standard animated story, somehow makes the effect of watching it even creepier. There's only the one voice, our increasingly mad narrator, and the movements are minimal and stark, like watching a mime act or shadow play. I really think it works better than it would have if fully animated. With just the one voice, sharing Pine's journal and putting in every inch of his desperation and growing insanity, somehow it fits the mood perfectly.
The format also serves the second story, Hill's "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead", which I've not read yet, but based on what I know about it I'm pretty sure it once again uses the story, with little alteration, if any, and gives us some semi-animated pictures to go with it. The result is maybe even better than "Survivor Type" and certainly more out-and-out horror. The artwork here takes a step up, becoming even more gruesome. What I really liked was the uncertainty of the ending. The story keeps going as long as she's alive, but that's no guarantee she lives to tell the tale, considering she's telling it in real time.
The young tweeter here is Blake, voiced by Joey King (no relation) who kinda over-acts a bit but not to a point of distraction. She's on a road trip with her family, and they're each getting on each other's last nerve. Then, mainly as an excuse to get out of the car, they stop at a curious attraction called "Circus of the Dead", and...man, Joe Hill has a twisted mind, and I love it! The way it's presented, with Blake certain the show is just a show even as it becomes undeniably real, is one I've seen done poorly in the past, but here it's done well, with Blake's initial boredom and later irritation showing us why she was so willing to believe that what she's seeing is "all part of the show"...even when her brother volunteers to be part of an act.
I gotta say, the creators behind this show really found the perfect medium in which to tell these two stories and it opens up all kinds of possibilities as to what can be adapted next! Gan knows there's a wealth of material out there, just from King and Hill alone, to say nothing of the multiple other horror greats out there. The horror anthology series is back, and I'm glad to see it!
No comments:
Post a Comment